How Could I Not
by Missjo1988
Summary: After Bulma dies in child birth with Bra, Vegeta doesn't know what to do with his life. That is until a certain widow comes and helps him. Goku never returned after Buu because Buu and the tournement never happened. Vegeta/Chichi
**Before you start reading, I know that this is not a beloved ship. This was made for fun.**

 **Anyway, Bra is born earlier in this time line and there is no Buu. Goku never came back for the tournament either. So Goku is not in the picture.**

 **With that out of the way, enjoy.**

* * *

It seemed unreal. This was supposed to be a happy day. Bulma had been so excited about having a little girl, but now a day that was supposed to be joyous had collapsed into darkness in a matter of seconds. Lives had been shattered and nothing would ever be the same.

She tried to dry her tears, but they kept coming. Bra was born healthy, but at a cost. Bulma was gone. The dragonballs could not bring her back. Her death was as natural as it could be.

As she looked down at her youngest, she found him frowning up at her. It was hard for Goten to comprehend. He had never known someone to die. He was born after Goku's death, so he had never felt the grief of losing his father. She could only imagine what it had to be like for Trunks. The boy was only 8 and now motherless, as was the boy's newly born sister.

Goten had left her side, running over to the young boy. The child seemed lost. Like he didn't know what to do. He was trying to hold in his tears, but was failing miserably.

As she looked around at the grieving party, she found one person absent from the entire thing. Bulma's husband.

She had never really cared for Vegeta, but the man had stayed by Bulma's side, forever loyal to her until the end.

The Brief's house was large, so he could be anywhere. But knowing him, he was probably in the gravity room.

She made her way to the room, ready to give him a piece of her mind. His wife had just passed on. Why wasn't he out there with everyone else mourning? Why wasn't he at least trying to comfort his son?

She knocked on the door loudly, as she listened to crash after crash. Most likely the sound of drones breaking by his hand, one after the other.

"Woman! Don't you see that I'm trying to train!" He roared.

The nerve of him, worrying about training at a time like this. She pushed the intercom, intending to give him a piece of her mind. "You have more to worry about than training, Mister Prince of all Saiyans! Now get out here and attend to your son!" She crossed her arms, letting out an angry snort.

The door slid open and she came face to face with him. She expected him to blast her, but he didn't, all he did was sigh.

She pondered what he was thinking and looked back through the open door to the gravity room. It was practically destroyed.

She was about to tear him a new one when he sighed again. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way."

She stared as his back and realized what he was doing. He was grieving in the only way he knew how. "You're not alone this time."

He looked back at her. "Do not pity me, Harpy. I have taken care of myself before. This time won't be any different."

She could tell that he was trying to put up walls, if he went too far he would go back to the way he was before Bulma. "What about your children? Trunks and Bra are going to need you. You can't just throw them to the side."

The Saiyan Prince crossed his arms, but didn't look offended. "The boy will be fine."

"What of your daughter? I know that Bulma died bringing her into the world, but you can't just leave her." She said hoping that she could reach him.

He sighed, looking down at the ground. "It will be hard. I don't know where to begin with a baby. Bulma's parents want me and the children to stay, I don't really have any place to go and besides I have to stay and protect the legacy that Bulma has left for them." She looked at him in confusion. "Capsule Corp." He stated. "Executives will be trying to take that away from Trunks and I won't stand for it. Frieza already took away my legacy. I won't let it happen to my son."

She was taken aback by his words. "But you won't have time for that if you're looking after the two of them." She stated.

"I'll have to find a babysitter or a live in nanny to look after Bra." But even saying that, she could see that he was very wary of the idea. His children, like hers were half Saiyan after all. A normal human wouldn't be the best choice.

It was then that a light bulb went off in her head. "Why don't I become your live in nanny then?"

He looked at her like she had grown two heads. "What?"

She gave him a smile. "I already know what to expect. I have raised two half Saiyans myself and this way you can look after Capsule Corp., while I take care of the kids."

He looked her in the eye, looking for any sign of deceit. "Why do you want to help me? You hate me."

She gave him a frown. "Because I also know what it's like to lose the person you love."

He stayed silent for a long time as he pondered the idea, before giving her a nod. "Very well, I expect you and to be moved in in about a week after her funeral. I will inform Bulma's father that you and the boys are coming."

She nodded and turned to leave, know that she would have to start the moving process with Gohan and Goten. At least this meant that Trunks would have Goten close for support.

As she made it back into the living room, she sighed. After today, this would be her new home. She only hoped that this was the right decision.

* * *

They had been moved in for a week now. Leaving the home that she had built with her husband was hard, but they didn't have much time left in it anyway. Without anyway to support them, they were running behind on their bills. It would have only been a couple of months and they would have been forced out of their home.

But now they were here. She barely saw Vegeta as he was usually out training in the gravity room. Dr. Brief had fixed it, but was very busy as he had to take over his company again after retiring.

Gohan had gotten into a good high school and Goten was outside playing with Trunks in the backyard, while she was heating up a bottle for Bra.

The little girl was a vocal one, which most would find annoying, but she could manage. Gohan wasn't the easiest child to deal with when he was born either.

She tested the bottle before heading up stairs. It took her only a couple of days to get Bra on a consistent schedule. As she headed upstairs, she could hear some arguing in front of the house and sighed. The boys were fighting over something, but she didn't have time to solve that as Bra started screaming for her afternoon meal.

She ran up the stairs and picked up the little girl, giving her the bottle and holding her tight against her as she walked down the stairs.

As she opened the door, she was surprised to find the Saiyan Prince chiding the boys for their actions.

"Trunks, you needed to start training hours ago." Vegeta said, looking stern.

"But I want to play with Goten for a while, can't we at least play one more game?" Trunks pleaded.

Vegeta scoffed. "Get in the gravity room now!"

Trunks hung his head and stocked off towards the room, leaving both her son and Vegeta standing there. She stood off to the side, wanting to see what the man was going to said to her son.

Speaking of her son, he looked miserable and she knew it wasn't because he couldn't play with Trunks.

Vegeta crossed his arms. "You want to train don't you?" The Saiyan Prince asked her son.

She shook her head, there was no way that Goten wanted to train. He had never been exposed to it, he didn't know that it was hard work.

But to her shock Goten nodded. Vegeta smirked. "It's in your blood. You have the blood of a Saiyan in your veins."

Her son looked down. "Gohan said that dad liked to fight." She almost ran to him as he looked like he was ready to cry.

The Prince frowned. "Wipe that pathetic look off of your face and get in the gravity room." She felt her anger start to rise as she watched the scene before her. If she wasn't holding Bra, then Vegeta would have been getting a smacking with her frying pan.

"What?" Goten looked confused.

Vegeta growled. "It would be a crime to not teach you something. You are Kakarot's son after all. Now get in there" The Prince pointed to the gravity room and she couldn't believe her ears. She would have been mad at him, but his reasoning stopped her dead in her tracks.

She watched as Goten ran over and into the gravity room and couldn't help but smile. "I know that you are there, Harpy." He stated, turning his eye in her direction.

"You didn't have to do that." She said as Bra finished up her bottle.

"It's the least I can do, after what Kakarot did for me." The prince turned away, ready to head off to the room to start training. Leaving her to ponder what he had said.

* * *

A couple of months later, they were all sitting in the kitchen. Bra was in her high chair, while Goten and Trunks waited for their food. Gohan was looking over his homework and Vegeta was leaning against the wall, drinking some coffee that she had already made.

She heard a small ding as the toast popped up, as she finished filling up the plates. "Now is everyone's homework done?" She asked a final time, finding that both of the boy's cowered away at the subject. "Goten, Trunks. Did you finish your homework?"

Trunks gave her an annoyed looking frown. "You're not my mother. Besides, what am I going to use that schooling for anyway?"

"Yeah, mom. Trunks and I want to fight." Goten said, standing up in his seat.

She face palmed. They had no idea what the real world was like. "Look, the two of you need to get an education."

"Why?" The two of them said together.

She let out a sigh. "Your both going to school and that is final." She turned to Gohan. "Your lunch is on the counter."

"Thanks mom." Her eldest said, taking the bag, before taking off.

"See, why can't the two of you be more like Gohan. He balances his training with his school work just fine." She said, a little agitated.

Goten crossed his arms, with a pout on his face. "Dad never went to school, so why should I."

Trunks laughed. "My dad didn't either, so I don't see the point." The boy stood up. "Now if you'll excuse us, Goten and I are going to go play some video games."

She moved forward to stand in their way, as Vegeta moved in front of both of the boys. "Trunks, I believe that school is that way." He said pointing at the other door.

"But dad…"

"No buts. If I find out that you have not finished up this homework thing again. I will take away the video games." The man said looking quite stern.

"But dad, you didn't go to school and you did fine."

"Yeah, my dad too." Goten interjected.

"That is of no importance. You will do this school thing. Your mother wanted both you and your sister to get an education and that is final." The man said, leaving both boys standing there gaping at him.

Finally both boys nodded and left to get their school things. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need your thanks, the boy was out of line."

She looked down. "They just don't understand. Neither of them have seen what truly happens when the planet is in danger."

"They were born into peaceful times. After Cell's destruction, this planet has been very quiet. It's only natural that they would know nothing of the truth." He stated.

Behind her, Bra began to cry. She could tell that it was time for a diaper change. Across from her, Vegeta held his nose. She laughed. "Let me get this princess all cleaned up. Don't you have to run by Capsule Corp. today?"

He nodded as she picked up the baby. "There have been some security threats."

"Doesn't Capsule Corp. have a fantastic security system?" She asked, not meaning to sound nosey.

He nodded. "It is protected with all kinds of tech, but you know as well as I do that they need more."

"So you're going to talk about trained security?" She said, walking into the other room.

He followed her as she set up everything on the floor to change Bra's diaper. "Yes, that seems like the best option."

"Is anyone up to your standards?" She asked as she worked.

He let out a huff. "No, that is going to be the hard part. You humans are weak creatures. Finding someone that I can trust and who is strong enough for what I need is going to be difficult."

She smiled. "Not if you train them yourself." He looked at her as if she had grown two heads. She laughed. "That's the only way they can be up to your expectations."

She watched as he considered the idea. She almost chuckled at the idea of a Saiyan taking a job. Goku never would have even considered it. She was kind of astonished that Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, was even thinking this over.

"That could work, but most of your kind are weak and frail. They could never stand up to my training."

She found herself laughing. "If you build them up, they should do fine. Remember, they would be guarding Capsule Corp from other Earthlings."

He seemed to like how she was talking as he gave her a smirk.

"You know, Harpy. You're not that bad." He said, much to her surprise.

* * *

A year had gone by and today was not only Bra's birthday, but also the anniversary of Bulma's death.

Bulma's mother wanted to throw a party for the baby girl, but both her and Vegeta agreed that Bra didn't need one. She would make a cake and they would give her some presents, but no one ever felt like celebrating. It would be a couple of years before they would be able to move on.

Trunks seemed to be a little quieter as she was cooking dinner. Goten was still his same bundle of laughs, but he didn't know better. Gohan stayed quiet at the table as he looked over his homework. Bra had been cleaned off earlier, as she had stuck her head in the cake.

Vegeta on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. The man had been working, which was surprising to her as Goku never listened to her on the subject. Vegeta didn't work all of the time, but Capsule Corp now had a functioning security force. All he did now was check up on them once a week, but it was enough. The Prince was stunned when Dr. Briefs started paying him for it, but he took the money after talking with her. They decided to put it up for Bra as they didn't know what she would want to do as she got older. Trunks' future would be as the head of Capsule Corp. Bra could work for the company if she wished or do something else. As an heiress she had all kinds of opportunities.

She didn't see the man as they ate dinner either. He was staying far away from everyone. She understood. The first anniversary of Goku's death had been hard on her. If Goten hadn't have been born than she didn't know what she would have done with herself.

She got all of the children ready for bed, Goten and Trunks had separate rooms but insisted on sharing, so she gave up on the idea. Bra was already asleep before she was placed in her crib and Gohan could take care of himself.

She walked out to the balcony and found that he Saiyan Prince was standing there looking up at the sky.

To say she was stunned was an understatement. She figured that he would be in the gravity room like he always was.

She found her way over to him and looked up at the sky as well. "I miss her to."

He shook his head. "How do you know that I'm thinking about that?"

She gave him a small frown. "Well she did pass on a year ago today. Why wouldn't you be thinking about her?"

He gave her a frown of his own. "Because I know that she is gone and not coming back. Why should I ponder over things that I can't change?"

She felt herself start to get angry. "But you loved her! You have to miss her somewhat."

He sighed. "I have more important things to worry about. I have two children, that job thing, and my training. I've lost a lot in my life and I would have gone nowhere if I turned into a pile of goo at the drop of a hat."

"So you have never mourned for your home planet ever?" After all of his bragging about being a Prince, she thought that he would have at least cried over the loss of the planet.

"As I said. I can't change it, so why should I worry about it. It is in the past. Focusing on the future is far more important." He said, slightly annoyed.

She looked down at the railing. "It still doesn't make it easy. Both times when I lost Goku, it felt like my world came to an end."

He chuckled. "You really think that you needed that buffoon in your life."

She glared at him. "What did you say?!"

He gave her a glare of his own. "I'm just saying that that idiot Kakarot shouldn't have been your reason for living."

"So I should have been as stone faced as you were when Bulma passed away?!" She huffed.

He stared at her in silence. He looked like he was getting ready to explode and she found herself backing up in fear. "You know nothing about my relationship with my wife."

"If Bulma was lucky, you probably what, only kissed her on birthdays or anniversaries. I'm betting that you weren't even good at it, either. Why else would you be so deadpan about everything?"

He let out a growl before pinning her against the railing and locking his lips with her almost frantically.

She froze as she felt him trying to get her to open up to him. The kiss was forceful, but it wasn't bad, rather it beat out every other kiss she had gotten in her life.

He pulled away slightly and she looked at him, seeing that his eyes were all glazed over. She could now see in his eyes, what he wanted. "Vegeta, we can't do this." She said.

"Why not?" He asked, taking his arm and pulling her by the waist flush against him.

"Because we're mar…"

"No, we aren't. They're dead Harpy. Bulma and Kakarot are gone." He stated.

At that moment, she saw it. Fear, sadness, loneliness. All of the things she had felt over the past 8 years. Her heart began to ache, as she stared into his black eyes.

She trembled as his hand found the side of her face. When was the last time she had been touched like this? It had to be before Goten was born, before Cell. She leaned into his touch, wanting to feel the contact. Wanting more of his touch.

He smirked. "So what will it be, Harpy?"

She said nothing, as he leaned into her again and began to kiss her. This time she did not hesitate. She kissed him back.

* * *

Another year, they went by so fast really. Gohan was graduating from high school and Goten and Trunks were mad that they would be separated soon, as the latter would be going to middle school next year. Bra was now walking and talking. And would sometimes go out with her father to the gravity room to train.

She really didn't have a problem with it, as the girl did show an interest in it. It kind of reminded her of her herself when she was younger.

Speaking of the girl's father. None of their children knew what they were doing. After that first night, she found herself giving into him more and more.

The first time they had really just kissed. Months after that, it had progressed into make out sessions, followed by the two of them getting a little more physical. They hadn't had sex, per say, but she knew that it was going to happen at this point and strangely enough, she was okay with it.

After she tucked in Bra for the night and checked on all of the boys, to make sure that they were asleep, she would head over to where his room was. He was always waiting for her now.

And as she opened the door, she was almost shocked to find that he wasn't there.

As she turned to leave, she bumped into his hard body. He smirked confidently as he reached around her and pulled her against him, so that her breasts rubbed against his chest. She pushed herself up to kiss him as he kicked the door closed.

Her breath hitched as he invaded her mouth with his tongue and they began to walk backward towards the bed. She could no longer count the number of times she had slept there on one hand.

She felt his hands, as they went to work on her clothes. As he continued to touch her, she waited for it.

"Do you want it tonight?" He asked, sliding his tongue down her earlobe.

She could barely breathe. "Yes. I…. I want it."

He smirked next to her ear before sliding her down on the bed and taking her.

* * *

Five years. Bulma had been gone for five years. She thought about it as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Over a year ago, they had finally told the children about their relationship. Goten, Trunks, and Bra were all fine with it. They had practically been raised as siblings, so it really didn't bother them. Gohan on the other hand was very uncertain about it. He didn't look down on her, but he didn't really like that Vegeta was basically taking over his father spot.

Goku and Bulma's friends, thought ill of them. Loosing contact with her as soon as they learned the news. Vegeta told her that they really weren't needed in their lives. They never really were their friends to begin with.

She found herself agreeing and was shocked when he asked her to become his new mate. She accepted his offer.

After becoming his new wife, they did some remodeling on the house as well as having Dr. Briefs expand the gravity room onto the house. Unlike most of the people in their lives, he had stayed friendly, but that probably had to do with Vegeta having custody of his grandchildren.

At the moment, she was brushing her hair before placing it back into her bun. It was going to be a long day. It was a weekend. Trunks was interning at Capsule Corp., while Goten was training out with Vegeta in the gravity room. Bra on the other hand was getting ready for her piano lessons.

As she walked out the bedroom, she noticed that something was different about herself, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

She walked by Bra's room to find that she wasn't there, but the TV was on down stairs so that was the best place to start.

Going down the stairs again, her stomach lurched as she smelt something from the kitchen. She barely had enough time to get to the bathroom, before she threw up.

Bra must have heard her because she was knocking on the door only seconds later. "Mommy Chichi, are you okay?"

She grounded herself, rinsing out her mouth before opening the door and giving the young girl a smile. "I'm fine. Let's get you to you piano class."

The little girl smiled and practically skipped to the door, just as Vegeta and Goten came in for their first break. The kitchen now had more than one fridge. One that was used for their daily allowance of food and the other had all kinds of training aids in it. She made sure to stock it with plenty of protein shakes and Gatorade almost every night. Goten was thinking of starting up his own martial arts academy, so she had become very supportive of his training.

She was about to grab her keys from the peg as Vegeta grabbed her and gave her a kiss. He was covered in sweat, but she didn't mind. He had been training since before dawn, so it was to be expected.

"I need to get Bra to her lessons. Your lunch is already made up in the fridge." She watched Goten open the fridge and give her a thumbs up. "Is there anything you need while we are out? I'm probably going to stop and get groceries for the next two days."

Goten shook his head, but her husband just looked at her. Almost like has trying to figure out something.

Below her Bra jumped up and down. "I want some pixy sticks."

She laughed. "I think we can go without candy."

The girl shook her head, giving her an almost golden smile. She knew this look.

"Nice try but no. We are not getting candy." She said, putting her foot down.

Bra made to pout, but Vegeta stepped in. "Bra, why don't you get in the car. I need to ask your mother something."

The little girl ran off, as her husband turned to face Goten. Her son got the hint and left for the living room, leaving them alone.

"What did you need?" He must have thought of something embarrassing to say in front of the children.

He looked her right in the eye. "You need to pick up one of those pregnancy tests."

She blinked at him a couple of times. Surely she couldn't be pregnant. Her hand went to her stomach as she thought over her nausea from earlier. "Are you sure?"

"You have more than one Ki signature in you. The last time that I felt that was when Bulma got pregnant with Bra." He stated.

"I'll try and get one without Bra seeing it, then." She said, getting ready to leave out the door. She kind of getting excited. She was wondered if it was going to be a boy or a girl.

He grabbed her arm as she turned to leave him. Never had she seen him look so vulnerable, not even when Bulma had died.

"Vegeta, what is wrong?" She asked.

Before she knew it, she was being pushed against the counter and his mouth was on top of hers. She had come to love how spontaneous he was. He wasn't predictable like Goku had been. He always pounced when she least expected it. When he did pull away, he was smirking at her. "Nothing is wrong Chichi."

To say she was shocked would have been an understatement. He had never used her name before, even after they were married. She had begun to think that her name was Harpy.

He kissed her forehead, before letting her free from his grasp. "Just don't die on me like Bulma did."

She now understood his initial worry. "I won't die, Vegeta. At least not yet."

* * *

Another year had passed, along with adding a new member to their family. Her third son was born in November, Verrot looked almost exactly like his father, just as Goten looked like Goku when he was born. Verrot didn't look like he had the widows peak that his father had, which she thought would look funny on a baby. It wasn't until her husband told her that he got that later in life that she started to wonder what Vegeta looked like as a teenager.

The boy had been born with a tail and they had had it removed. Vegeta seemed very happy to have a child that not only looked like a saiyan, but had a saiyan name. She had agreed to his choice of names because she had named at least one of her children.

During her pregnancy, Gohan started coming around again. He seemed less bitter with Vegeta than before, so that was good.

Gohan had also come with the news that he was getting married. He told her that he would be bringing his fiancé over sometime. This Videl sounded a lot like her from what her son had told her. She just hoped that he would treat her right.

Looking back on her relationship with Goku, she now wondered how she did it. He was always in and out of the house. The longest that he had stayed with her was the first four years of her marriage. They had always disagreed on how to raise Gohan and she wondered if he only came home for food and sex. Of course that was all in her mind. She knew that Goku did love her, he just loved fighting more.

She looked over at her current husband, who was in the back yard sparing with all of the kids. Goten, Trunks, Gohan, and Bra were all trying to attack him. She couldn't help but smile. As much as she would love to hate on Vegeta for being an jerk, he was always around. He trained, but he put it to use for them. He still made a lot of money from inspecting the training at Capsule Corp and he was helping Goten set up his dojo.

He laughed as Bra flipped through the air and landed a blow to his back. She had quit the piano months ago and he could see that she had a new favorite hobby. She kind of reminded her of her younger days, when she too was a fighter.

Verrot moved around in her arms and she looked down to find him watching the fight intently. She knew he would grow up to be just like his father.

* * *

They were lying in bed after making love, she was still astounded that a man like Vegeta liked to cuddle.

"So what would you like to do next, Harpy." He asked.

"I don't know, Vegeta. But I think you can come up with something." She smirked.

He smirked back, as he slid himself so he was on top of her. "You know you're going to get it now?"

"Whatever you say, Prince Vegeta." She said, challenging him.

He chuckled. "Those sound like fighting words, Chichi."

"What if they are?" She said, giving him a look that screamed do your worst.

He gave her a sly smirk. "I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you."

The smirk on her face fell as she heard the words she thought he would never say. "Do you mean that?"

His smirk fell into more of a smile. "How could I not?"

-End

 **Author's Note**

 **I know it could have ended better, but this is a ship that I am not used to writing for. That I didn't really know how to end this. I kind of just wrote this on a whim. I personally enjoy Bulma/Vegeta and Goku/Chichi to Vegeta/Chichi, but I wanted to do something different. So while I know many will not like this due to the ship, I still wanted to post it anyway, as it was really just an exercise in how to write something outside of my comfort zone.**


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